Bag assembly



C. W. VOGT BAG ASSEMBLY Dec. 29, 1953 Filed Aug. 25, 1948 3 Sheets-Sheet l Z FFSS ,L32

Gttomegs C. W. VOGT BAG ASSEMBLY Dec. 29, 1953 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 25, 1948 Dec. 29,- 1953 c. W. voGT 2,664,238

` BAG ASSEMBLY Filed Aug. 25, 1948 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Dec. 29, 1953 UNITED stares sagem oFFice f. -5 l2.664,2s8- I I BAG ASSEMBLY' Clarence W. Vogt, Norwalk', Conn-5 .Application August `25, 19,48, seriaigNo. 4.6.0.5r

This invention relates to bag assemblies and more particularly to bags which are connected together in a chain as by one or' more ilexible tapes extendingv lengthwise ofV the bags' as diS- closed; in my copend-ing` application, Serial No. 3:8347? led July 13"1948.,

The filling' and sealing of' non-rigid containers such as, bagsformed or lined with iexiblev material, and particularly thermoplastic films such as ""cell'ophane, saran, polyethylene or pl'i'olm, withy a measured quantity or weight of' material, involves a cost of packaging often disproportionate` with respect to the cost of' the material being packaged, unless these operations can be'. performed automatically at at relatively high rate of speed andwitha minimum of supervision and handling.

Where end folded bags of the above type have flaps or other extra, material integral therewith and utilized to aid in c heopeningI ofithe mouths thereof for filling,` and are also used in sealing the' bags to form airtight, moisture and' waterproof containers, sucniaps add materially to the open the mouths of the bags to enable the bags Y to be lled, sealed and ejected from the lling machine described hereinafter. In a preferred embodiment herein chosen to illustrate my invention, means are provided to effect step by step movement of a chain of bags connected by two lengths of tape and move said bags past said operating stations, which function only after each intermittent movement and when the bags are stopped atl said operating stations.

The operations performed at,v said stations include vthe opening of,VV the bag', the charging of the latter with a predetermined amount orweight of material, the stripping away of' one of the connecting tapes, vthe sealing of the` open mouth of the loaded bag, the stripping away of. the other of' the connecting tapes and the ejection of the loaded bags from the machine.

In the accompanying drawings there is shown only one of the various possible embodiments of the' several features of' the invention,

Fig. l isa fragmentary side elevational View of the apparatus partly in cross'secticn, l

Fig. 2 is a i'raginentaryl endl elevational View of the. apparatus partly in c ross vsection taken along line 2--2'of1'ig-l, l l

clases. (o1. 229-53) Fig. Slisy a view similar to Fig. h taken along line 3--3 oFig. l,

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of' one of the bags,

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional-view' of two bags superposed relation and' ig. 6 is a fragmentaryperspective; view-of another embodiment of the bag.

Although various types of' cams, gearsand sprocket wheels or other mechanismsmay be; ernployed for o-perating the constituentl elements of the machine in timed relation, and' there are many possible ways ofr driving themfrom a motor, o-r other sourcev ofpower, a particularly desirable arrangement is shown in the drawings.

Referring nowv to l and"u 2, the machine comprises a frame H at the upper end of; which is mounted a substantial-ly ifi-shaped bracket i2, the vertical leg |33 off which is secured to frame i I', for instan-ce, by screws |41.

Bracket I2l has a downwardly extending flange or panel l5` at' thefree end'of its horizontalportion i5 to which is affixed by screws orboltsfl, a filling device I8, which may` be. conventional in construction and-need not be describedr except to the extent necessary fora complete understanding of the novel features of the; invention.,

The filling device i8 hasl a main drive motor-M with a vertical drive shaftv [91 provided with a pair of spaced sprocket wheels 22- and; 23?. The sprocket wheel 22 is connected by a chain 24 to a sprocket wheel 25 which-4 is affixed to vertical shaft 26 which controls the filling mechanism (not shown), to discharge a 'xedquantity or weight of material fromfhopper- 2 1 through outlet nozzle orspouty 2'8".

Sprocket wheel? 23 is connected byv ay chain 29 to a sprocket wheel 32' aixed, as by set screw 3'3, to a vertical stud shaft 34 rotatably mountedand securedat its upper end 35 in a bearing- ?l in the horizontal portion i6 of bracket I2.

The lower end 3T of; the;A shaft 34 has a bevel vgear 38 affixed thereon by set screw 39; said gear 33 meshing4 with an associated bevel gear 41; affixed on a transverse shaft 42 and rotatably mounted on the frameof the machine.

-the notched` rim of' a drive disk 46 aixedby Set vlscrew 4l t-oftransverseshaft 48. The latter iS 'jo'urnalled at one end as' at; 5l.l in a bearing 52 in frame lf'las shown in Fig. 2 and near its other end in a bear/ing 53' provided in laterally extending bracket 54, the latter having a vertical leg 55 affixed to frame I I by screws 56.

Illustratively, there are four notches 51 in drive disk 46 so that four complete revolutions of disk 43 are required for one complete rotation, in intermittent 90 degree steps, of shaft 48 to which disk 46 is affixed. It is of course to be understood that more or less notches could be provided in disk 46 depending upon the rate of output desired for the machine.

Also mounted on shaft 48 and affixed thereto by set screw 6| is a gear 62 which meshes with an associated gear 63 affixed by set screw 64 to a hollow transverse shaft 65. The latter is journalled at one end in a bearing 66 in frame I and near its other end in a suitable bearing 61 provided in bracket 54, and there is provided a heating element 10 positioned in the bore of shaft 65.

Shaft 65 also has affixed thereon by set screw 68 a large gear 69, as well as a cam plate 1|, the latter having a plurality of cam surfaces 12, illustratively three in number, on the periphery thereof. Also mounted on shaft 65 is a drum 13, having a plurality of projections serving as sealing surfaces 14, illustratively three in number, extending radially from the periphery 15 thereof and aligned with cam surfaces 'I2 as is clearly shown in Fig. 1.

Rigidly affixed to filling device I8 and projecting therefrom is a bracket 8| to the free end of which is pivotally mounted a sleeve 82, through which extends an actuating rod 83. One end of rod 83 has a roller 84 mounted thereon which rides on the periphery of cam plate 1| as is shown in Fig. l. A coil spring 85 is secured at one end as at 86 to the rod 83 and at its other end 81 to the sleeve 82, thereby normally resiliently urging said rod through said sleeve to retain the roller 84 against the periphery of cam plate 1|.

The free end of rod 83 is pivotally connected as at 88 (Fig. 3) to a lever 89, the latter having a hub 9| at its free end in which is aixed a transverse rod 92. The free end of the latter is rigidly connected as at 93 to one wall of a substantially U-shaped pouring funnel 94, the latter being pivotally mounted on the outlet 28 by laterally extending studs 95 rigidly aflixed to the side walls of the funnel and positioned in openings 96 therein, the funnel 94 straddling the outlet 28 for the purpose hereinafter set forth.

Gear 69 meshes with a gear 91 affixed by set screw 98 on hollow transverse shaft 99, the latter having a heating element 80 positioned in the bore thereof. Shaft 99 is journalled at one end in a bearing I9| in frame and near its other end in a bearing |02 provided in a laterally extending bracket |03, the latter having a vertical leg |04 aiiixed to frame by screws |05.

The end |00 of shaft 99 extends beyond bearing |02 and has a drum or roller |06, aixed thereon as is clearly shown in Fig. 2, roller |06 having a peripheral groove |01 therein, as well as an indexing pin |08 extending radially outward from the surface thereof.

Gear 91 on shaft 99 meshes with an idler gear affixed by set screw I0 on a transverse shaft |l2, the latter being journalled at one end in bearing ||3 in frame and at its other end in a bearing |4 provided in bracket |03.

Idler gear meshes with a gear 5 affixed by set screw ||6 to transverse shaft ||1, the latter being journalled at one end in a bearing 8 in frame and near its other end |I9 in a bearing |2| provided in bracket |03.

The end ||9 of shaft I1 extends beyond bearing |2| and has a drum or roller |22, aiiixed thereon, the latter having a peripheral groove |23 therein aligned with peripheral groove |91 in roller |06, as well as an indexing pin |24 extending radially outward from the surface thereof and aligned with pin |08 on roller |06.

Gear ||5 through meshed pinions |25 and |26, drives a gear |21 aiixed on a transverse hollow shaft |28 rotatably mounted on the frame I! as is shown in Fig. l. Shaft |28 has a heating element |30 positioned in the bore thereof and carries a drum or roller |29 and which is aligned with rollers |06 and |22.

Roller 29 also has a peripheral groove |3| therein (see Fig. 3), which is positioned to the left of the groove in rollers |06 and |22 for the reason hereinafter set forth.

Positioned between rollers |06 and |22 and mounted on frame is an inclined table |35 having parallel side walls |31 which serve to guide the bags being filled. A second inclined table |38 mounted on frame is also provided to guide the lled bags onto a conveyor belt |39 which discharges the bags from the machine.

The machine above described is adapted for automatic operation in the lling of a chain or series of bags such as |4| and |4|'.

One of such bags |4| is shown in Fig. 4 and has opposed inverted pleats |42 along the side edges thereof and the bag |4| as shown in Fig. 6 is of the pillow case type with parts corresponding to the bag of Fig. 4 having the same reference numerals primed.

As shown in Fig. 4 the bottom of the bags are closed by folding over the lower end portion |43 thereof and sealing such folded ends. The bags are spaced apart endwise and connected, preferably by two longitudinal tapes |44 and |45, which extend lengthwise of the bag one on each side thereof. The tapes are preferably laterally offset as shown in Figs. 4 and 5 so that in rolling the chain of bags on a roller |41, the strips will not be superposed. Such superposing would cause a bulge in the center of the roll and reduce the number of bags which would be put on a single roll.

In order to provide for proper indexing of the bags when they are fed through the machine in the manner hereinafter described, tape |45 is desirably provided with a plurality of openings |46 therein positioned in the space between the bags to receive indexing pins |08 and |24 as will hereinafter be described.

The bags may be of paper 01 similar material in which case they are provided at their open ends with inwardly facing surfaces formed of or coated with, a sealing material which may be of nontacky latex which will seal upon closing of the mouth of the bag and application of pressure thereto, or of a thermoplastic film so that when heat and pressure are applied, the mouth of the bag will be closed and sealed.

The thermoplastic material may be in the forrn of strips extending along and around the inner surface of each bag at its mouth or the bags themselves, as illustratively shown herein may be made of a thermoplastic material. Sheets or tubes of a heat sealing ce1lophane" such as made and sold by Du Pont, Plioilm such as made and sold by Goodyear, lms of a polyvinylidene chloride such as made and sold by Dow Chemical Co., under the trade-mark Saran and polyethylene such as sold by Plax Corporation and Visking Corporation, are suitable materials for the bags.

Some thermoplastic material such as lms of polyvnylidene chloride greatly shrink when subjected to such heating as will permit heat sealing. Ii such shrinkable material be employed inV mahing the bags, a stiffening strip is preferably applied along or over the mouth portion, and which will adhere to the Saran and prevent the latter from shrinking duringsealing of the bags. Such stiiiening strips. may be applied to the outer surface of each bag mouth prior to or at the time the heat and pressure are applied to soften and stick the layers or Saran and bag walls together.

It is to be noted that the making of the entire bag of thermoplastic material is preferred Where the bags are to be lled with material which is' to be non-porous so as to protect the contents from dirt, dust or moisture.

The tapes it/i and US5 which join the bags are preferably spot sealed by adhesive material to the bags only near the upper end thereof as shown at |6`| and |62. There are many types of materials that could be used for the tapesr thus, for example, if the bags as well as the tapes are of paper, a coating of non-tacky latex could be applied to each which would only adhere when in contact, or if a thermoplastic bag wasl used, the tape could be of the type known as Scotch tape which could readily be sealed on the bag. Pre erably, as illustratively shown herein, the tapes are of delayed action thermoplastic coated paper of the type put out by the Nashua Guinmed and Coated Paper Company under the trade-marks Thermo-kote or "Thermo-Stix which tapes are activated by heat and then applied under pressure. The characteristics of this material is such that the sealing surface oi the tape will be nontacky and non-adhesive when cold and when reactivated by heat will become tacky and remain so for a period of time up to several hours.

Thus, after the tapes have served their purpose, the temperature at the sealing area may be raised to the required degree to soften the adhesive and thereupon the tapes may be peeled oli to free the individual filled and sealed bags.

Operation The operator when setting up the machine for operation unrolls a length of the cha-in ott-hermoplastic bags from the roll it? which is mounted on shaft |50. The tape it is positioned in the groove 523 in roller i2? with indexing pin the in an opening |46 in 'the tape. The tape is then passed vover table |35 and around roller lilo being positioned in the groove |87 therein with indexing pin |08 extending through another opening |46 in the tape.

Tape M4 which is identical with tape M5 except that it need not have an opening HiB therein, is positioned in the groove 53| in roller 52s and passed around said roller.

order positively to pull on tapes |45 and |135 to ensure the passage of the bags through the machine, two pairs oi take-up rollers ITG, |'H and |72, |13 are provided associated with tapes |44 and |45 respectively and gripping such tapes. The rollers are operatively connected by a suitable transmission (not shown) with shaft et andl will rotate in timed relation along with said shaft. The hopper 2l! is filled with the material to be discharged into the bags and the heating elements 1G, 8E) and i3d in shafts S5, t9 and t28 respectively are energized in order that they may heat sealing surfaces it and rollers ltd and |29 respectively.

Motor M which will rotate continuously, is thereupon turned on. to'begin the automatic operation of the machine which is as follows:

Rotation of motor M and shaft. t9 driven thereby, will rotatesprocket wheel; 23 and'. through sprocketchain 29 and sprocket wheel 32, drive shaft 34'. This. willl rotate bevel gear 36 which in turn drives bevel gear 4|; to. rotate. shaft 42 and disk 43"v thereon. a clockwise direction.

As disk- 43: rotates, pin 45 will engage one or" the four notches: El* in drive, disk i6 ats each complete revolution of' disk 43, thereby stepping drive disk 46 through 90. orr one quarter of a revolution. Thus shaft 48 to` which drive dis-k e6 is aixed' will, also. move one' quarter of a revolution in a counterclockw'se direction, as will gear 32 alixed thereon.

Gear 62; which meshes with gear 63 on shaft 65 will" thereupon rotate the latter in a clockwise direction along with. drums 15, and gear 69 thereon..

Gear 69 which mesheswith gear 91 on shaft 89 will rotate thev latter in a counterclockwise direction along with roller |06 affixed on said shaft. Gear 9'! through idler gear mounted on shaft H2, which gearl meshes with gear H5 on shaft will' rotate the latter in a counterclockwise direction, along with roller |22 thereon.

Gear H5 through pi-nions |25 and |26, which latter pinion meshes with gearv |27 on shaft |28, will rotate.` the latter and roller |29` thereon, in a clockwise direction.

At the same time as shaft 48 rotates, take-up rollers |105, and. |12, |13 which are operatively connected thereto will also rotate to pull on tapesv M5 and |44 respectively to move the bags carried thereby to the opening, lling and sealing stations.

It is to be noted that with the indexing pins |08 and |24 in upright position as shown'in Fig. l andi in opening |461 in the tape, a bag HH at position A will be directly below the funnel 96 or the iilling machine and byreason of the fact that` the tapes UM and |45 are spaced when positioned around roller |22 and |29 the mouth of the bag will be pulled open.

With bag |4| at position A, roller 84 on rod 83 will be against.A the low portion of the rim of earn 1| and hence lever 89y will have pivoted rod 92 sov thatv funnel 14 will be in pouring position` as shown` in full lines in Fig. 1.

The filling mechanism (not shown) in iillin dev-ice |8- Which is driven by sprocket wheel 21, sprocket Ichain- 24, sprocket wheel 25 and vertical shaft 26, iis. timed to function through conventional' timing mechanism (not shown) only when funnel 94: is in pouring position and will deliver ak fixed charge at such time.

As shaft t5 rotates through the transmission heretofore described, the cam surface T2 will abut against roller 84 to move rod 83 so that funnel h4 is; pivoted to closed position as shown in dot and dash lines in Fig. i, while at the same time the. fill-ing mechanism in filling device i8 will not be activated.

At the same time take-up rollers |10, and i12, VII will be driven topull on tapes H34 and H35. As. roller |29' has been heated bythe heating element |30 and as the thermoplastic spot seal Hit' which is of relatively small size, is against said roller, the activated tape will become tacky and as the tape |44 around roller 22S it will peel oft the bag the tape is coated with a delayed action" type otthermoplastic. In

order to prevent the activated tape from sticking to roller |13, the latter may be coated or covered with a silicone coating to which the actuated thermoplastic will not adhere.

As tape |45 is pulled by rollers |1, |1| it will draw the iilled bag from the lling station beneath the outlet 28 up inclined table |35. The bags are so spaced on the tape that a 90 revolution of the shaft 48 through the transmission heretofore described from the Geneva drive mechanism, will move the bag from station A to station B where the mouth of the bag will be against heated roller |06 and will also move an empty bag from position C to the filling station at position A while at the same time opening said bag. The sealing members 11% on drum 13 are so spaced thereon that when the bag is against roller |06 one of the sealing members will have closed the mouth of the bag and be exerting pressure thereagainst. As both the roller and sealing member are heated, the mouth of the thermoplastic bag will be sealed and the activated spot seal |6| of tape IM` to said bag will become tacky.

At the same time rod 83v will have been retracted by cam 1| to move funnel 94 to pouring position and the lling device I3 will eject a charge of material into the empty bag at position A.

As shaft 48 makes another 90 revolution under the drive from the Geneva drive mechanism, tape |44 will move the bag from the sealing station at position B onto table |38 at the same time moving the lled bag from the lling station at position A to position B and moving an empty bag from position C to position A.

It is to be noted that as tape |i5 is dra-wn around roller |06 and bag |4| is discharged onto table |38 the activated spot |62 on tape |45 will peel away from said bag to free the latter from the tape.

Although two tapes are shown applied to bags MI, tape |44 'could be dispensed with and the bag opened for lling by applying a suction cup to the free side of the bag or by blowing air into the mouth of the bag or by any other suitable means. In such case, roller |29 and take-up rollers |12, |13 and their actuating means could be dispensed with.

It is also Within the scope of this invention to dispense with the heating elements entirely and use self-stick material for the spot seal of the bag to the tapes and also for the mouth of the bag. This self-stick material requires only pressure for sealing and of the tape thus coated also may readily be peeled off a correspondingly coated spot on the bag in the same manner as previously described with respect to the actuated thermoplastic tape but without the use of heated rollers.

It is also within the scope of this invention to use short strips or tabs, similar to those shown at K of Fig. 3 of my co-pending application Serial No. 38,477 led July 13, 1948, but with the strips or tabs joining the bottom of one bag with the top of an adjacent bag to form a chain of bags, and removing such tabs after they have served their chaining function, or leaving them on for convenience in packing multiples of the lled bags in shipping containers, leaving the later severance to be accomplished by the disLa penser.

Although in the machine herein shown and described an intermittent drive is utilized, it is of course to be understood that. the Geneva drive mechanism could be dispensed with and a continuous drive utilized. It will be understood that while the bags may be disposed with their mouths facing in different directions when rolled up as shown in Figure 1 or otherwise stacked, to supply them to the filling machine, they nevertheless face in the same direction when the chains are unrolled or unstacked. In such case it would only be necessary properly to time the machine so that the feeding device and sealing members would operate at the required time. As the application of such a drive mechanism, in view of the disclosure herein made is readily apparent, no further description thereof will be given.

The machine herein can operate for many hours without supervision requiring as it does only an adequate supply of material and bags, and as there are but few operating parts, the possibility of breakdown is remote thus increasing the eiiciency and hence the output of the machine.

As many changes could be made in the above construction, and many apparently widely diierent embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope of the claims, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. As an article of manufacture a plurality of bags connected in series by a pair of elongated tapes on opposite side walls extending lengthwise of said bags at right angles to the mouth thereof, said tapes being unconnected with each other and spot sealed to opposite sides of each bag by a reactivatable delayed action thermoplastic at a restricted zone adjacent to the mouth of said bag to retain all the bags in substantially parallel relationship with their mouths facing in the same direction, said bags being openable independently for lling by pulling one tape away from the other.

2. In combination, a plurality of bags arranged in a row with the bags extending lengthwise of the row, spaced apart, and having their mouths facing in the same direction, and a pair of tapes one on each side of said row, each tape being secured to the respective side walls of each bag adjacent to the mouth thereof, whereby said bags may be fed in succession to a lling station by moving said tapes endwise, and the bag mouths may be opened by moving one of said tapes away from tl e other.

3. A construction as defined in claim 2, and in which the securing of the tapes to the bags is effected by an adhesive permitting said tapes to be freed from each bag by pulling said tapes away from each other after the mouth has been opened.

4. A construction as defined in claim 2, and in which said tapes have apertures therein for registry with tape advancing means.

5. A construction as defined in claim 2, and in which the tapes are laterally offset in respect to each other and in opposite directions in respect to the longitudinal center line of the sides of said bags.

6. A construction as dened in claim 2, and in which the sealing of the tapes to the bag walls is at comparatively small spots.

'1. A construction as dened in claim 2, and in which the tapes and bags are wound up in a roll with the tapes and bags extending circumferen- 9 tially of they roll, and the tapes being spaced Number apart in the Vdirection of the axis of the roll. 2,051,483 2,3 2,187 CLARENCE W. VoG'r. 2,332,637 Referenceg cited in the me of this patent 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,373,010 Number Name Date 1 2,376.239 v 1,058,658 Cauleld Apr. 8, 1913 1,764,569 Knee June 17,1930 10 N mber 2,013,844 Sherman sept. 10,1935 132 749 2,028,341 Masterson Jan. 21, 1936 Name Date Jones Aug. 18, 1936 Allen Oct. 19, 1943 Heywood Oct. 26, 1943 Heywood Oct. 26, 1943 Sherman Feb. 29, 1944 Brady Apr. 3, 1945 Stenglein May 15, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain Sept. 25, 1919 

